Automotive, Aeronautics & Space
• Non-destructively mapping stresses within real components (both new and used).
• Studying surface treatments and coatings, including ‘before and after’ studies on the same sample.
• Non-destructive radiography and computed tomography to locate organic materials, water, hydrogen and lithium, even when buried within several centimetres of metal.
• Investigating the atomic- and micro-structure of metals, alloys, glasses, ceramics, semiconductors, composites, metal foams and nanomaterials.
• Quantifying residual stresses in cast metal components in order to optimise manufacturing conditions and evaluate new alloys.
• Non-destructive quality-control testing to detect hidden defects and other manufacturing anomalies.
• High-speed imaging of car engine parts in running engines, including visualising water and oil flow, in situ.
• Analysing tyre composition and formulations.
• Characterising materials (e.g. plastics, composites, fabrics, metals and alloys) to improve performance, safety and comfort.
• Tracking material changes during deformation (from milli- to pico- or femto-second timescales) to reveal structure-property relationships.
• In situ fatigue testing to understand failure mechanisms.
• Imaging ash deposits in automotive engines and diesel filters.
• Tracking combustion and catalytic processes in situ (both structural and chemical), under standard catalyst operating conditions.
• Damage threshold determination of optical components induced by ultrafast laser pulses (LIDT).